


The World of You and I

by keyandtonyoutsold



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Established Relationship, Everyone is safe at the end, Fluff, For like a brief second, Identity Reveal, Kidnapping, Lois Lane Doyoung, M/M, Minor Violence, Superman Johnny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-11 23:21:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19119793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keyandtonyoutsold/pseuds/keyandtonyoutsold
Summary: Doyoung's boyfriend is Superman, except he doesn't know that.





	The World of You and I

**Author's Note:**

> This is not set in any of the dc main universes, so obviously Doyoung is not exactly Lois to the bone and same for Johnny.
> 
> Flashback scenes in italics. 
> 
> Title from nct 127 Superhuman.

.

Johnny looked the best in the sun, skin glowing and brown eyes taking a hazel twinkle in the light.

And that was why Doyoung made sure they always sat outside for their lunch dates; he simply loved Johnny in the sun. He suspected he loved Johnny, period. But he hadn’t yet gathered the courage to examine his feelings thoroughly, let alone say them out loud. They had just started dating a month ago after Doyoung had got tired of pretending like he didn’t notice Johnny’s eyes on him all the time. Their relationship had taken a leap from strictly professional to a blossoming friendship once Perry, their editor in chief, had Johnny trail behind Doyoung during the coverage of some charity gala in D.C.

Johnny was charming and sweet and he looked at Doyoung like he hung the moon; Doyoung was into that sort of thing.

It’d taken a while for him to fully assess the situation though. He and Johnny had developed a routine of having lunch together at least once a week and Doyoung’s numerous attempts at giving Johnny hints that he’d like for their friendly lunch dates to become actual dates had all failed. So he’d resorted to being blunt. 

_“This is a date by the way. We’re on a date.” Doyoung said out of the blue. He had to get it out there or he’d combust. Johnny was so stupid and Doyoung was getting restless. He’d given him enough signs but Johnny couldn’t pick any. Some reporter he was._

_“W-what?” Johnny sputtered, eyes wide, fork frozen halfway to his mouth. They were at Johnny’s favorite restaurant, sat outside on the patio, sharing plates of Mediterranean food. Maybe Doyoung should have waited until they finished eating._

_“I’m gay, Johnny.” He offered as explanation._

_“I know that.”_

_“And you’re…” Doyoung wasn’t sure which gender Johnny was usually attracted to, but he knew Johnny was attracted to him._

_“I don’t use a label, I just-” Johnny said, putting the fork down and pushing his glasses up, a nervous gesture Doyoung noticed Johnny did when he wanted to avoid eye contact, particularly with their editor in chief when he was in a bad mood. There was a lovely blush on his cheeks accompanying it this time though._

_“As long as you’re okay with this being a date.” Doyoung said, trying to smile reassuringly, he was nervous too, but one of them had to have his shit together. “I like you” He added to make his intentions completely clear to Johnny. Just in case they somehow weren’t._

_“I am. And I like you too.” The blush was a deeper red now. Doyoung smiled, reaching across the table to touch Johnny’s hand._

_“Thought so, got tired of waiting for you to make the first move though.”_

So there they were, much like that first official date, sitting in the same restaurant, enjoying a meal together before Doyoung had to leave to Sweden for two weeks to cover some stupid summit.

It was a boring affair, Doyoung had covered enough summits in his career to know for a fact that all of the talk in those meetings was just that: talk. But he also always managed to ask the good questions and catch the attendees off guard and that was why Perry was sending him to Sweden.

“I want to do a big piece, something different,” He sighed, he hadn’t gotten that Pulitzer nomination for covering summits, he used to risk his life on a weekly basis to go to places no other reporter dared to, investigate people deemed too powerful, untouchable. He’d touched them though; he had even caused the downfall of a few. But there was this  _little_ issue of death threats being sent to the office and his house again, so Perry and the police had advised him to not try and go after anyone potentially dangerous, for a while at least. “That spread Jennie Kim did on Wonder Woman in the New Yorker, I want to do that.”

“Interview Wonder Woman?” Johnny asked, the sides of his mouth already curving up in a cheeky smile. He knew how much Doyoung was itching for investigative work rather than boring conferences and interviews and he liked to tease Doyoung about it.

“Well, no, that’s been done already.” Doyoung replied, waiting for Johnny to take a sip of his water before continuing, “I was thinking of going to Gotham, interview Batman.”

Johnny choked on his water, the desired effect achieved; Doyoung always loved a bit of drama.

“How on earth will you get access to _Batman_?”

“I’ll figure something out.”

“Batman is not Wonder Woman, buddy, he’s far less friendly.”

“Makes it more fun to pursue him.” Doyoung shrugged, taking another bite of his salad, “and don’t call me buddy, it’s antagonizing.” He added, pointing his fork at Johnny who met his glare with a look that meant he wasn’t sure if Doyoung was messing with him or being serious. “I was thinking I can maybe use your connection to Ten.”

Ten was Johnny’s annoyingly rich and annoyingly annoying friend; sole heir of the Leechaiyapornkuls and biggest share holder in Neo Tech. Somehow, he and Johnny had become friends after they’d met at some gala Johnny had been sent to cover in Gotham a year or so ago.

“Why don’t you just interview Ten?” Johnny said with a snort too sarcastic for Doyoung’s liking. He knew how Doyoung felt about Ten and how Doyoung was already compromising enough by putting up with the idea of him being a permanent fixture in Johnny’s life.

“And reveal what exactly that hadn’t been already revealed about Ten? The man sees his face in newspapers more than he does in the mirror.”

“You’d be surprised.” Johnny snickered, looking amused by the turn the conversation had taken.

Doyoung rolled his eyes; Johnny was an idiot, he always saw the best in people or whatever small town bullshit he was raised on, “still don’t understand how you two hit it off, he’s so,” Doyoung paused to make a face that he hoped conveyed his thoughts about Ten; cocky, pretentious, obnoxious, annoying, arrogant, “and you’re so _you_.” Sweet, kind, down to earth Johnny, who was so generous with his affection and time and energy; and judgment on people.

“He’s a good guy.” He said with a shrug, giving Doyoung one of his awkward little smiles. He just wanted his best friend and boyfriend to get along, but there was only so much Doyoung could put up with.

“Not when he’s a billionaire and a third of Gotham is under the poverty line.” Doyoung countered, giving Johnny a pointed look. It wasn’t the first time they had this conversation and Johnny knew better than to argue with Doyoung when he started bringing up statistics.

“How about Superman?” Johnny asked then, casual as if he was suggesting they share a slice of cheese cake for dessert.

Now it was Doyoung’s turn to laugh, “I’ll take my chances with Batman, at least I don’t have to get him down from the sky.”

“Well, I think he’d be friendlier than Batman.” Johnny replied with one of his pretty smiles, full and big, eyes twinkling in the sun, reminding Doyoung just how much he was falling and falling _fast_ for him.

They left it at that for a while; it wasn’t until later, when the table had been cleared and they were waiting for dessert that Doyoung spoke again, “I never told anyone before, but I’ve had an encounter with him, with Superman.”

“An _encounter_?” Johnny was laughing and Doyoung couldn’t find it in himself to be annoyed, it did sound silly.

“Shut up, that’s what people on the internet call it. I’ve met him, kinda.”

“How did it happen? And how come you didn’t write a two pages think piece on it by now?”

“And you keep tabs on everything I’ve ever written?” Doyoung raised an eyebrow, chuckling when he saw Johnny blush. It was nice to see he could still make Johnny flustered even now that they were dating and Johnny didn’t need to feel embarrassed anymore about his big fat crush on Doyoung and his big fat journalistic crush on Doyoung’s work. “Anyway, it was a long time ago and it’s a little embarrassing,” it was silly and Doyoung himself still wasn’t completely sure it had actually happened.  “I don’t know if you were already working for the Planet, but I had this scoop that got busted, the Texas church drug cartel story.” Doyoung had been working on investigating the cartel for months only for the FBI to force him to hand over all the evidence he’d gathered and bully him into not breaking the story until their investigation was over, which would had been fine, if Krystal Jung from the Washington Post hadn’t caught a whiff of the news and beat him to releasing the story first.

“I was already two months into my position at the Planet then, Doyoung, _you_ just didn’t notice me till my sixth.” Johnny said, good heartedly like always; he never held anything against Doyoung or anyone for that matter.

“I’m sorry, it’s just, it’s hard to keep up with everyone who comes in.”

“It’s okay, we’re here now.” Johnny reached across the table to take Doyoung’s hand in his. Doyoung had once thought he was too old to feel butterflies in his stomach, but Johnny kept proving him wrong. “So your ‘ _encounter’_ with Superman?” Johnny prompted, barely holding back a chuckle, letting go of Doyoung’s hand just so he could add air quotes. Doyoung slapped his hand away for that and huffed. _Asshole_.

The story _was_ kind of silly, it wasn’t anything special, it wasn’t like the life changing encounters other people had had with Superman. Doyoung had been on his building rooftop, high out of his mind on some joints from a questionable source. He’d been sad, disappointed, and had already cried enough in the privacy of his own bathroom while taking a long shower. He’d been drained and done feeling sorry for himself, only not really because he’d still felt really bummed when he’d decided to sneak into his building’s rooftop at 3 AM so he could have a smoke in peace, get out of his own head for a while at least. 

He didn’t remember the thought process he’d had, what he remembered was his ending up walking over the ledge of the rooftop –he hadn’t felt suicidal, he was sure of that, he’d just been really high and feeling really down and acting really dumb.

And then _he_ had shown up. Superman; looking unreal as he hovered above Doyoung in all his blue and red glory, the moon casting its glow on his back, making him appear godly.

Words were Doyoung’s thing, he excelled at expressing himself and his emotions and reactions, but for the first time in a very long time, he’d found himself speechless. _The_ _Superman_ had been in front of him.

Doyoung had first thought he was hallucinating but then he’d stumbled and fell back on his ass and Superman had _laughed_ before flying away _._ He’d let out a low chuckle that was completely opposite to the full bodied cackles Johnny was barking out now that Doyoung had told him the story.

“Hey!” Doyoung protested, throwing a balled up napkin at Johnny, who continued to laugh as if Doyoung had just told him the world’s best joke, which he hadn’t, it wasn’t even _that_ funny, Johnny was just being a dick.

“So what did he look like?” He was still shaking with mirth as he took his glasses off to dab a napkin at the corners of his eyes.

“I don’t know, he was few feet away and it was really dark.” Superman was a mystery; Just like Wonder Woman, he never hid his face, people had seen him, had described him, had taken pictures of him. But he’d never got too close, never stayed for too long, and somehow no one had yet to capture his face clearly on camera, “but I like to give him Steven Yeun’s face in my imagination.”

Johnny laughed again, full bodied and carefree. He looked so beautiful Doyoung couldn’t help but crack a smile of his own.

“Stop, some people who’ve seen him up close say he looks Asian, there are other bunch of conflicting reports but whatever.” Doyoung explained. He’d been religiously keeping up with news of Superman appearances –for journalistic purposes of course. There were forums where people wrote about their encounters with him, speculated about his origins, his powers, his intentions. Doyoung had traced the accounts of people whom Superman had saved all the way back to his first known appearance in the middle of the Atlantic where he had rescued a group of sailors from their imminent death; the folder he kept on Superman was growing bigger and bigger each day.

There was still so much they didn’t know about him, he had appeared two years ago, he had incredible powers that rivaled those of Wonder Woman herself, he’d save lives and he then disappear immediately.

Mainstream media had started calling him Superman after the coined term got popular online. There were conspiracy theories all over the place about who and/or what Superman was; government experiment, alien, hyper realistic android, vampire, some sort of spirit or deity and so on.

The only thing about Superman everyone was sure about was that he was on the side of the good guys; that made everyone in Metropolis and the world feel a little safer.

And Doyoung wasn’t an exception, “I just remember that I felt safe,” he said after a minute, once Johnny had sobered up from his laughing fit; he’d never got to talk about this before, not to his friends who would have made fun of him –way worse than Johnny did, nor to his family who would have got unnecessarily worried. “He had this comforting aura around him, sometimes I wish I actually fell off the ledge just so he could have held me in his arms.”

Oh. Maybe he should have kept that last part to himself. Johnny was blushing as he shrunk back in his seat, silent. Doyoung hoped he hadn’t upset him.

“Jot that down on the list of things to never say to your boyfriend I guess.” He said with a light chuckle in an attempt to make the mood a little less awkward.

But Johnny chuckled too, cheeks a light pink as he adjusted his glasses, “no, it’s fine, I mean it’s like having a celebrity crush, you know.” There was no judgment in his tone, if anything he looked kind of endeared. “Like I would _love_ for Oscar Isaac to hold me in his arms.” He added with a full smile, bright and genuine and only a little cheeky.

Doyoung burst out in laughter himself, the air felt clear, light, and _safe_. He could, after all, tell his boyfriend anything.

“I’m gonna miss you.”

“Me too, but it’s just two weeks.” Johnny responded, reaching across the table to offer his hand for Doyoung to hold, flooding Doyoung’s insides with that familiar sense of warmth he came to associate with Johnny and Johnny only (it was love, he just wasn't ready to admit that to himself yet).

“That’s half the time we’ve been dating.” He pointed out; Insecurities were foreign to Doyoung, who was always so sure of himself and comfortable in his skin, but he truly cared about Johnny and he really wanted to make sure that their relationship would work. They were moving slow, per Johnny’s request. He’d confided in Doyoung about how he’d dived head first into his last relationship, how it had been a whirlwind of emotions, how he’d thought he’d finally found someone who understood him on a level he’d never thought anyone would, but at the end the other person hadn’t been as invested in the relationship as Johnny and that was how he’d ended up with his possibly worst heartbreak.  

And so, they were taking is slow.

Really slow.

_“Uhm, can we slow down for a minute, please?” Johnny said, gently putting his hands on Doyoung’s chest to stop him for coming in for another kiss._

_It was their third date and Doyoung had invited Johnny back to his place to watch a movie after dinner, they hadn’t even made it past the front door before Doyoung backed Johnny against the wall to kiss him and things had admittedly got really heated really quickly. Doyoung didn’t mind, but apparently Johnny did._

_“What’s wrong?” Doyoung asked, taking two steps back, giving Johnny some space because he was looking a little uncomfortable, touching the collar of his sweater and then his hair and then his glasses as if he didn’t know what to do with himself._

_“I just- maybe we shouldn’t do this so soon.” Johnny mumbled, looking down at his feet, his cheeks were red, his glasses growing foggy spots due to the heat radiating from his face._

_Doyoung took another step back. He hoped he hadn’t done anything wrong, he knew Johnny liked him and he liked Johnny, so whatever Johnny’s reasons were, and even if he didn’t have any particular reasons at all, he’d hear him out and comply._

_“Do you have a weird dick?” He asked with an exaggerated frown because the air was growing tense and he needed to fix that._

_“What? No!” Johnny looked up, scandalized, and glanced down in the direction of his crotch before mumbling a confused ‘I don’t think so?’_

_Then he glanced at Doyoung’s crotch and Doyoung couldn’t help the giggle he let out. And just like that, Johnny was laughing and it didn’t feel as awkward anymore._

_“I just want us to take things slow, I like you a lot, Doyoung, I want us to take this step by step.” He explained once their laughter subsided._

_“Okay.” Doyoung said gently, moving to take Johnny’s glasses off because the wet stains on the lenses were driving him nuts. Johnny ducked his head down as he reached into his pocket to hand Doyoung the small glasses cloth._

_“I’m sorry.” Doyoung heard him mumble while he busied himself with wiping the glasses._

_“Hey, never apologize for setting boundaries, Johnny.” He said, sliding Johnny’s glasses in place for him and tucking his boyfriend’s wild little tufts of hair behind his ears. “It’s okay.” He used his best reassuring tone, the one he used on Perry when he told him not to worry, even when Doyoung was giving him every reason to._

_“And we can still kiss, right?” He asked, moving to wrap his arms around Johnny’s neck, bringing their lips together for a soft kiss._

_He felt Johnny’s smile against his lips before he pulled away to rest their foreheads together, his glasses had slipped down a little and Doyoung knew right there and then that he was gone for the man when his first instinct was to internally wax poetry about how there was an entire galaxy reflected in his eyes._

_“I don’t think I can ever survive a day of not kissing you.” Johnny whispered, voice low, and Doyoung recoiled, covering his mouth –and blush- with both hands as he let out a loud bark of laughter._

_“That’s so cheesy!” Laughter, light and carefree, echoed in the apartment as Doyoung pressed a kiss against Johnny’s goofy smiley face one more time before making his way towards the living room, “come on, let’s watch a documentary about how Earth is dying to kill my boner.”_

They had then sat and watched the documentary and engaged in a heavy debate on capitalism and the Earth resources –Doyoung had brought up Ten and Johnny had tried to defend his friend and they had ended up on the floor with bunch of articles and books strewn around because Doyoung felt like Johnny needed a lesson in socioeconomics. At midnight, Doyoung had had the sudden crave for some Tiramisu, which he always had ingredients for stacked up in his pantry, so he and Johnny had settled in the kitchen, side by side to make it; they’d got the cream ready, soaked the biscuits in coffee before assembling the dessert together and in the quiet of the kitchen at the late hour, Johnny had told Doyoung about his last relationship –albeit vaguely and without dropping any names- and why it had failed.

Feelings were difficult, Johnny had got hurt and that had made him more careful. Doyoung could relate to that, he’d agreed to take things slow, or at whatever pace Johnny wanted to set because Doyoung was already all in. And Johnny was worth it.

Johnny who was like a drop of honey in a warm cup of tea; Johnny who was _seemingly_ shy, spoke quietly and often made effort to make himself small so he wouldn’t bump into things and people, but was still confident and assertive as much as he was friendly and easy going and that juxtaposition of traits was what had attracted Doyoung to him.

Their friendship had been just as wonderful and Doyoung had grown too used to having him around, and although his trip was just two weeks, he was still going to miss him.

“Well I hope you don’t run off with some hot Swedish reporter.” Johnny said, pouting a little. He had his chin propped up on his hand and he looked cute Doyoung had to get up from his seat and lean over to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s lips or he’d die.

He clicked his tongue as he pulled away, “I’m more into the dorky type, and I don’t think I can find anyone dorkier than you.” The way Johnny’s eyes shone in the light as he stared at Doyoung had his heart hammering in his chest from the sheer force of the affection he could feel directed at him.

Soft pink painted Johnny’s face and expanded all the way to the tips of his ears. Doyoung wanted to hold Johnny’s face in his hands and trail the color with soft kisses, instead he settled for taking Johnny’s hand in his and letting their clasped hands rest on top of the table.

***

There was possibly a saying somewhere about having low expectations for a trip and then it ending up being absolutely wonderful; Doyoung wished he’d knew of it because contrary to what he’d believed, he had actually enjoyed his time in Sweden to the fullest.

It was mainly thanks to the new friends he’d made there, two Korean reporters who were just as fed up with politicians as he were. Not only had it felt good to trash talk everyone around in a language they couldn’t understand, but it had also felt amazing to do bare minimum journalism and ditch most of their other duties to explore the city and get drunk at various spots across Stockholm.  

He’d got too wrapped up in his pseudo vacation he’d barely had time to check on people or news from back home, and that had been mistake number one.

Mistake number two was telling Johnny to forgo a cab and just walk back to his apartment.  

Their date night had started out perfectly, Doyoung hadn’t been able to wait to see Johnny, so they’d planned a little date the night of Doyoung’s return. It was supposed to be casual, Doyoung had just wanted to see his boyfriend and breathe in the air of a Metropolis spring night while doing so. Home was where the heart was and Doyoung’s heart would always be in Metropolis.

Everything had gone south very quickly.

Doyoung had seen the van pull up in front of them rather briskly, had felt his skin prickle when the masked men came out of it with guns pointed at his general direction. He hadn’t figured out they were there for him until one of them had called his name and the people around him had scattered away in panic, except for Johnny who’d stayed still beside him.

It had all happened in a blink, one second they were standing at the crossroad waiting for the light to turn red and the next he and Johnny were stuffed in the back of the van, having guns pointed at their heads and heading to God knew where.

Doyoung thought of all the death threats he’d been getting and tried to calm down. The last thing he wanted to think about was the content of those letters becoming a reality.

Fear was coursing through his veins, making him alert to his surroundings. There were four men besides the driver, masked and armed and silent, they had no insignias on their clothes or visible tattoos or any clue as to who they were. The back of the van was barren, providing absolutely no help either; and there was Johnny too, Johnny whom Doyoung noticed had his fists clenched by his sides, said fists visibly shaking from fear; Doyoung wished he could reach over and calm him down, tell him how he was going to get them out of this mess, but he knew better than to make any sudden movements. It wasn’t even the first time he had a gun pointed at his head, nor was it the first time he got kidnapped, but having gone through those experiences did nothing to make it any less daunting.

Doyoung had learned how to stay calm in such situations at least. There was no use talking or negotiating with the men with them in the van, they were obviously just goons; whoever had hired them was the one who Doyoung would get the answers from. Bad guys, much like cartoon villains, loved to run their mouths and Doyoung made a living of getting the answers he wanted. He just hoped Johnny could remain as calm and not do or say anything that could result in them getting hurt. Doyoung was going to do his damn hardest to get them out of this alive, or at least get Johnny out.

The van stopped and Doyoung and Johnny were shoved out of it to find themselves in the Daily Planet underground parking lot. They shared a confused look as they were roughly manhandled into the elevator. Whatever the kidnappers’ plan was, being subtle wasn’t part of it. They’d kidnapped Doyoung and Johnny from the middle of the street, they’d taken them to their place of work where there were security cameras all over.

The elevator reached the top floor and they found themselves on the building rooftop. Doyoung watched as the men barricaded the elevator doors and let his eyes fled over the other possible exits only to find them all blocked.

“Mr. Kim.”

Ah.

Doyoung should have known, he vaguely remembered the date for William White’s hearing falling sometime the previous week; he should have kept up with the news of his release. He was so stupid and now he was going to pay for it with his life, Johnny’s too probably.

There was no negotiating with White, he was a known psychopath; he reveled in making a show of people who dared cross him.

Years ago, Doyoung had broken the story that had led to his arrest.

“Long time no see.” White said with a sickening grin; the way his eyes took Doyoung in made Doyoung’s skin crawl. He was flanked by bunch of other men like the ones who had grabbed Doyoung and Johnny off the street. The roof was lit up with projectors, he was preparing _a show_.

Doyoung turned to look at Johnny, who looked way too calm considering their current circumstances. His brow was furrowed behind his glasses but his stance was relaxed as he surveyed everything happening. That was good, panicking never solved anything.

“Mr. White, congratulations for your release are in order I suppose. Didn’t think you’d be dive right back into crime so soon, not at least until your parole was over.” Doyoung knew it was no good to taunt a man who was planning to probably kill him, but he couldn’t help it.

“Thanks to you, Mr. Kim, the world knows me for what I truly am, or is rather about to. I’ve never been charged with murder, after all, they couldn’t find enough evidence.”

Doyoung’s blood froze.

“But now they’ll know, because I want them to know.”

The implications were clear, Doyoung was about to get killed. _Maybe it was time to try and negotiate with a psychopath._

“Mr. White, I know you want to make a statement, you don’t have to kill me to do that, you’ve already made your statement by kidnapping me in public and taking over the building, I can –I will write about this, from personal experience, and it’s- ”

“You forgot a minor detail, Mr. Kim.” He paused for effect, _God, this fucker was annoying_. “My wounded pride. You humiliated me and my associates, you put me in prison, I can’t possibly forgive that, and as for the story, your boyfriend here Mr. Suh will do the job. He’ll write about this, about _me_ and it will make Metropolis fear me again. Too bad you won’t be around to read about it.”

A scream tore through Doyoung’s throat as two of White’s men grabbed hold of him and immediately tipped him off the edge. He was going to die. He was going to die and Johnny was going to watch him die and forever live with the image of Doyoung’s dying.

At least he’d live. At least he wasn’t going to get killed because of Doyoung.

The aggressively strong hold on his arms briskly disappeared and he was free diving through the air.

The Daily Planet wasn’t _that_ tall of a building, it was going to be over soon.

His eyes closed involuntary, his ears ringing from how loud the wind was, he was going to die, he tried to make peace with it before his body hit the pavement.

Only it didn’t. He made contact with something a lot softer than the pavement, something still incredibly solid but warm and gentle to the touch.

He reveled in the warmth for a moment as he kept his eyes closed shut. He wasn’t falling anymore, he was held mid air, safe, alive. Doyoung knew it was _him,_ who else it could be; slowly opening his eyes, Doyoung expected to be met with the face of Superman, finally see what he looked like, put a face to the shadowy figure from his foggy memory. However, when Doyoung did open his eyes he was met with a familiar face.

Superman looked a lot like Johnny.

Superman looked a lot like Johnny because Superman was Johnny.

"Wha-" he barely managed to whisper out before Superman (Johnny??) was pulling Doyoung’s face towards his chest, muffling his protests as he zoomed through the sky. He landed them both in an empty alley Doyoung recognized to be just few feet away from the Museum of History.

Doyoung swallowed the lump forming in his throat and tried to will his knees into cooperating enough for him to push away from Johnny’s embrace.

Johnny looked- Johnny looked like Johnny, glasses askew, hair ruffled, but gaze sharp, sharper than Doyoung had ever seen on him. There was something peeking out from under the collar of his shirt, something dark blue and subtly shimmering.

“Just- please stay here, please.” Johnny then said as he took off his glasses, looking pained and unsure.

He popped open the first two buttons of his shirt to reveal more of the dark blue material and then he was gone in a blink, leaving a small blizzard of dust behind him.

Doyoung took a shuddering breath and walked out of the alley towards the steps of the Metropolis History Museum before falling to his knees.

His eyes fleeted around urgently, taking account of the people milling around, the parked police car, the couples and friend groups who used the steps of the museum and square in front of it as a hang out spot. He was safe, he was okay.

Johnny was Superman

His boyfriend was Superman.

His mind would be forming more coherent thoughts if his body could just stop shaking because the revelation of Johnny being Superman came with Doyoung's almost fucking dying. He had almost died. He would have died if Johnny weren't there, if Johnny weren't Superman.

Even though it hadn't even been the first time Doyoung had found himself in a near death situation, it had been the first time he'd gotten _that_ near. He felt like simultaneously bursting into laughter and into tears. He wanted to call his parents, tell them how much he loved them, text his friends to check on them, call Perry to tell him how much he appreciated him. He wanted to scream, he wanted to jump up and down, he wanted to weep, he wanted to be held. He needed comforting.

He needed a moment, a long one.

He sat on the stairs of the museum, surrounded by strangers, close enough to offer him company but far away enough that they wouldn’t notice him quietly losing his shit. He put his head between his arms and hugged himself through a possible panic attack.

He had almost died. And Johnny was Superman.

There was a lot to process.

A gentle tap to his shoulder startled him out of his trance and there he was, Johnny, kneeling a step below Doyoung so they were eye to eye, glasses perched on his nose and fluffy hair falling over his forehead, looking like he usually did.

“Hi.” He greeted with a hesitant smile Doyoung tried to mirror.

Silence fell over them for a moment after that. Doyoung’s heart was still racing, and his brain was sluggish from everything that’d happened. He had never in his entire life felt this overwhelmed, or truly overwhelmed at all. Talking was a little hard when your brain was the equivalent of a restaurant kitchen during rush hour, where everything happened to be on fire, including the chef.

“Do you always have the suit under your clothes?” He blurted out, somehow that seemed like the most pressing question his brain sought an answer for.

Johnny, on his end, seemed unaffected by the weird question.

“No, it’s- sort of nanotech, it materializes from this.” He explained, tone kind, pulling out an S shaped pendant from under his shirt and letting it hang low on his chest.

Doyoung nodded slowly, eyes trained on the pendant, giving his brain enough time to absorb the new information. 

“Are you cold?” Johnny asked, concern lacing his voice; he sounded the same as when he was worried Doyoung hadn’t gotten enough sleep or had skipped a meal. Doyoung didn’t know what he was expecting, maybe for ‘Johnny’ to be a whole made up identity for Superman, for Johnny to drop the act and reveal himself to be someone completely different.

Doyoung hadn’t even noticed the tremors still going through his body until then, “no, I- just nerves.” He mumbled, getting enough courage to finally look Johnny in the eyes, “those guys, they saw you, your identity?”

“Don’t worry, I made sure to make it seem like Johnny Suh tried to save you from getting thrown and ended up falling off the edge with you and Superman caught both of you.”

Doyoung snorted, Johnny (Superman?) had just referred to himself in the third person twice in the same sentence. Was it really him, was he Johnny Suh at all?

“And who are you?” He asked, amused, despite his increasing heartbeat and the impending panic he could still feel creeping up on him.

“I’m Johnny.” Johnny replied, smile growing wider even though the worry in his eyes was still evident. Doyoung let out a shaky laugh; it was an imitation of the exact same way Johnny had first introduced himself to Doyoung all those months ago, goofy smile and all.

“But you’re also Superman.” Doyoung pointed out. It felt good to say it. It finally felt real, to let it out in the open like that, to say it aloud.

“I am.” Johnny seemed to share the sentiment, his shoulders visibly slumping with a sense of relief probably. “Is it okay if I hold your hands?” He then asked, reluctant, bracing himself for a rejection that’d never come; he was Doyoung’s boyfriend’s for God’s sake.

“Johnny, you...you never have to ask.”

“I mean this changes things, I guess.”

“This is why you insisted we take it slow.” Doyoung said, realization hitting him like a brick to the face because of course, Johnny had a huge secret, one that he couldn’t just share with anyone unless he trusted them fully.

“I was waiting for the right time, but I wasn’t gonna wait too long either, just, the right time.” Johnny said, voice incredibly small, head hung low. Without really thinking, Doyoung moved his hands to adjust Johnny’s glasses for him like he usually did, the action forcing Johnny to look up.

There was a long pause where they just looked at each other.

“Hold my hands, please.” Doyoung finally said, offering his shaky hands to Johnny with a smile he hoped came off as reassuring. 

Johnny’s hands were warm as usual, comforting, solid, grounding. Doyoung felt a little silly thinking back to how he’d mistook Johnny’s shaking fists earlier for a sign of fear.  

“Your powers, identity- why? Why does Superman need to work for the Daily Planet?” No one ever thought Superman would be walking among them; he didn’t wear a mask, he wasn’t like Batman or the Flash or the other masked heroes popping up here and there lately. He was like Wonder Woman, unmasked, elusive and private, but proud and unveiled, she never wore a mask or hid from the world, same way everyone assumed Superman never did.

“It’s helpful for keeping track of what’s happening in the world, and there is more than one way to help people, not everything can be solved with super strength.”

An involuntary loud cackle escaped Doyoung’s mouth; the idea of Superman feeling like he wasn’t doing enough was just too ironic.

“I’m serious, look at what you do, you take down bad guys all the time, you save people too, that’s inspiring.” Johnny said, voice earnest, hold tight but gentle on Doyoung’s hands as he spoke. Doyoung felt his heart skip a beat. Johnny’s admiration for him had always meant a lot to him; however, that admiration paired with the revelation of who Johnny was meant a lot more. It was exhilarating beyond explanation to have the man whose name had become synonymous with savior tell you that you were inspiring.

“Thanks…for saying that and for you know, actually saving me.”  Doyoung said, frowning as he felt his heartbeat pick up again, the memory of getting thrown off a building still too fresh. “What did you do to White?”

“I took care of it, don’t worry, we’ll have to head to the police station to give our statements though. You okay with that?”

“Yeah, I just need to get my legs to work again.” Doyoung said, letting out a nervous laugh, “I can’t keep thinking about how I would have died if you weren’t there.”

“You wouldn’t have.”

Doyoung smiled weakly, Johnny’s comforting him felt nice, but he’d rather deal with his issues by being truthful –and by going to therapy; he was going to need a lot of it after this.

“No, I mean it. I always keep an ear out for you, Doyoung.” Johnny said, he’d moved a little closer that their foreheads were almost touching, squeezing Doyoung’s hands in his, “I’d never let _anything bad_ ever happen to you.” He added, slowly, clearly and Doyoung had done his fair share of analyzing language patterns to know what a loaded statement sounded like.

And boy, that was a loaded statement.

“How?” He breathed out, Johnny’s words coupled with the fact that he was thinking again about getting thrown off the building had hindered his ability to form full sentences.

“My powers. It’s not just flight and strength, it goes beyond that, some days I...I’m still discovering a lot too. I can hear a lot already, but if I focus really hard, I can hear your heartbeat from anywhere in the world, I recognize it, your breathing too, I can tell when you’re in danger.”

_Wait._

“That night on the rooftop…” Doyoung whispered, eyes widening in shock.

Johnny nodded sheepishly, biting his lip and moving as if he wanted to pull his hands away from Doyoung’s only to stop when Doyoung tightened his hold on them with a frown.

“Wow, okay.” Doyoung breathed, nodding, _processing_ , he didn’t know how he was supposed to feel, he’d had a weird night, he was feeling _a lot_.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s a little weird, I do it for my parents too and Ten, not as often though. Sometimes I do it for people I’ve helped before, just so I can like, check up on them.” It hit Doyoung then why sometimes Johnny would get a faraway look on his face, a frown would mare his features and he would suddenly not be mentally present in the room anymore, looking for a way out. Everyone had their demons, and Doyoung had never wanted to prod, had assumed Johnny just didn’t want to tell him about them yet. Turns out Johnny’s demons were a lot louder than those of the average person.

“It’s not weird, I mean _it is_ , but you can also fly and punch through walls and I don’t know what else, everything is a little weird, but I’ll get used to it, eventually.” Doyoung smiled, intertwining his fingers with Johnny’s and taking a deep calming breath. 

“So this doesn’t change things between us?”

Doyoung leaned in then, closing the distance between them to press a kiss to Johnny’s lips, quick and chaste, giving a clear albeit unspoken answer to his question, “let’s go to the police station.”

***

Turns out the police were more interested in asking about Superman than they were about the criminals (because when did the police ever do their job). Doyoung had to put his foot down and ask them if Superman was the one who was going to be tried for attempted murder. Johnny, on the other hand, found it unbelievably funny to entertain their inquiries about Superman, only to fuck around with them and give a made up description of the hero.

Doyoung let out a loud exhale once they stepped outside again. He hated police stations, and the entire process that followed getting mixed up with criminals. He was not looking forward to the days he’d have to spend in court.

“You okay?” Johnny asked, pressing a warm palm to Doyoung’s cheek.

Doyoung stared at his boyfriend, his dorky kind sweet boyfriend who was also the strongest man on Earth and felt the overwhelming urge to kiss the life out of him, which he proceeded to do.

“Your place or mine?” Doyoung panted out once he pulled away to take a breath, and then a second and a third because _fuck, he was alive_ , he’d almost died, but he’d survived and he was fucking alive. There was fire in Doyoung’s loins and he hoped it showed in his eyes because he needed Johnny, he needed the physical contact, the comfort, he craved it like a starved man, he needed to feel alive.

Thankfully, Johnny seemed to get the point as he pulled him closer by the hips, lips plump and red from Doyoung’s kisses, pupils dilated and looking uncharacteristically winded.

“Mine.”

By the time they made it to Johnny’s apartment, Doyoung was buzzing with excitement. He barely let Johnny close the door behind them before he was backing him up against the wall, much like that very first time he’d tried getting physical with him.

“You sure you want to do this now?” And God, how sweeter could he get, polite, caring and so attentive, hands gentle on Doyoung’s waist and lips soft against his jaw.

“Yeah,” Doyoung replied, letting out a breathy laugh when Johnny moved down to pepper kisses against his neck. “You have nothing to hide from me now, Johnny, unless you _do_ have a weird dick.”

Johnny’s laugh vibrated against Doyoung’s shoulder, and the butterflies were back again in Doyoung’s stomach, their imaginary little wings’ beating at a matching rythm to his heart beat, which he now knew for sure Johnny could hear, from anywhere in the world, apparently.

“We don’t have to take it slow anymore,” he whispered, running his fingers through Johnny’s hair, pressing his lips to the tip of Johnny’s ear before pulling his head up to face him and kiss him sweetly on the lips, “please?”

That seemed to do the trick, spurring Johnny into action. His hands made their way to the back of Doyoung’s thighs and in a split second Doyoung was effortlessly hoisted up, legs instinctively wrapping around Johnny. Johnny’s eyes were shining behind his glasses as he looked up at him with complete adoration and Doyoung was completely gone for him.

“You’re ruining me for everyone else.” Doyoung said, cupping Johnny face and letting his eyes just take him in, kissing him on his forehead, the apples of his cheeks, the tip of his nose and then his lips.

“Good.” Johnny said with a smirk so delightfully new on him that Doyoung honest to god giggled, feeling like he was back in college, experiencing everything for the first time.

***

It was dawn by the time Doyoung came out of the shower. Johnny was in the kitchen preparing some sort of tea he claimed could help Doyoung relax because even after three orgasms, Doyoung was still vibrating with energy. Adrenaline was a bitch.  

He stood in front of Johnny’s closet, looking through its contents before settling on a simple blue t-shirt and a pair of boxers with little printed burgers on them. The closet was full of oversized hoodies and sweaters. Doyoung had always known Johnny was fit under all those layers and behind that suspiciously consistent slouch of his. He’d just thought Johnny was a little insecure about his body, like a lot of people were in the age of hypervisibility and photoshop and instagram models.

“Now I get why your clothes always seem two sizes too big on you, and why you wear so many layers.” Doyoung pointed out when Johnny re-entered the room, shirtless, the planes of his chest lean and defined. He looked different in the privacy of his house, the burden of his secret off his shoulders, he stood straight, proud; he wasn’t trying to pass as someone he wasn’t, not in front of Doyoung at least, not anymore. He handed Doyoung the cup of tea and then wrapped his arms around him from behind, taking a moment to inhale Doyoung’s scent –his own, since Doyoung had just used Johnny’s shampoo and body lotion.

They just stood there, Doyoung sipping his tea and Johnny holding him in his arms, basking in the peace of the early morning hour before the sun fully rose.  

Johnny got back to bed first, sitting with his back pressed against the headboard as he watched Doyoung finish gulping down his tea before putting the cup on top of the dresser.

“So,” Doyoung started, crawling on the bed until he was straddling Johnny, comfortably settled in his lap, “now I can actually get that interview with Superman.” Johnny’s chuckle was music to Doyoung’s ears, low and hearty, tugging at Doyoung’s heartstrings.

“Hmm and what do you want to know?” Johnny inquired, eyes crinkling at the corners from amusement, palms warm on Doyoung’s bare thighs.

 _Everything;_ he wanted to know everything.

“Where did you come from?” That seemed like a fair first question.

“Chicago, Illinois, we moved to Kansas when I was seven. Dad got sick, needed clean air.”

Oh, so Johnny decided to be cheeky, Doyoung gave him _a look._

“I’m serious.” He said with a chuckle, body shaking under Doyoung. The action so unbearably cute Doyoung couldn’t help but lean down and headbutt him, _gently_.

Johnny burst out in full laughter then, craning his neck to steal a kiss from Doyoung’s lips while he was close enough.

“How did you get your powers?” The question seemed to sober Johnny up, he licked his lips couple of times, rubbing small circles on where his hands were settled on Doyoung’s hips.

“Okay, but you need to brace yourself for this, are you ready?”

Doyoung felt his heart beat start picking up pace again, this was it.

He nodded.

“Originally, I come from a planet called Krypton.”

_Holy shit._

“Holy shit,” Doyoung exhaled, sliding off Johnny’s lap so he could plop down on the bed next to him.

Aliens were real. Humans weren’t the only ones in the universe. _Holy shit_.  

Doyoung’s brain was running a mile a second, going over bunch of possible implications of the fact that Johnny was an actual extraterrestrial. 

But he looked _so human_. He was looking at Doyoung with a tiny smile, calmly leaning against the headboard, letting him absorb the new information at his own pace.

“How did you- When? Why?” _Stellar investigative journalism skills right there._

Johnny sat up straight then, crossing his legs and taking a deep breath before he started on the story of his origins, his destroyed planet, his biological parents who had sent him to Earth because of the shared genetics between humans and Kryptonians. He told Doyoung about his childhood, about his parents –his human parents- who had taken him in and raised him and loved him unconditionally.

Doyoung kept quiet as he listened to Johnny, not butting in with remarks or questions, just being there for his boyfriend, squeezing Johnny’s hands every time he got a little choked up on emotions, pressing soft kisses to the palm of his hands to ground him.

“You’re the last of your kind?” He asked after Johnny finished his story by how he’d moved to Metropolis to work for the Planet.

“Presumably, yes, unless there are other Krypotanians who got sent off to Earth or other planets, which according to my father’s data is pretty unlikely.” Johnny recited, mechanical and detached, gaze fixed on Doyoung, yet so distant.

All of Johnny’s information about his home planet came from the data his father had left in the shuttle Johnny had arrived to Earth on as an infant.

Doyoung felt like he was looking at Johnny for the first time, taking account of the faint sadness etched in his eyes, Doyoung couldn’t even come close to imagining how lonely such existence must have felt like.

“Did everyone on Krypton have these abilities?” He asked, trying to steer the conversation to more neutral grounds.

“Not _on_ Krypton, we were just regular beings, just like a human would be on Earth, at least that’s what the data says.”

“So Earth gives you powers?”

Doyoung’s question was met with a confused little expression, Johnny had obviously given all of this careful thought before, “maybe, or maybe it was Krypton that somehow eliminated the powers, it’s hard to really know for sure. Like I said, I’m still learning.”

“Who knows about this, about you?”

“Well, my parents, my childhood friend from Chicago, my girlfriend from high school, Ten and now you.”

“Ten?” Doyoung couldn’t help the loud snort he let out, prompting Johnny to give him a playful pinch on his side.

“Told you he’s a good guy.”

“Maybe if he redistributes his wealth.” Doyoung shot back, earning that small exasperated laugh he usually got every time he trash talked Ten to Johnny.

A comfortable silence settled over them as they smiled at each other. Doyoung moved to lie down, pulling Johnny down to settle more comfortably against the pillows.

“I’m getting sleepy, your tea is working.” He whispered after he’d arranged their limbs so that his head was cushioned on Johnny’s chest and Johnny’s arms were wrapped around him.

Johnny hummed, fingers feather like on Doyoung’s skin as he slowly stroked up and down his arms.

“Do you even need sleep?” Doyoung asked because even though his body was actually finally surrendering to rest, his brain was still running.  

“Not as much as the average human does, but yes, I also enjoy it.”

“And food?”

“Of course, lots of it.”

Doyoung closed his eyes, feeling sleep pull at the edges of his consciousness when another question crossed his mind.

“Is your semen toxic to humans?” Johnny’s snort was too mild for it to be the first time someone asked that particular question.

“Shouldn’t you have asked that before we had sex?” He asked with a chuckle, tapping Doyoung on the forehead, prompting him to push his head off Johnny’s chest to look at him. There was a smug smile painting his face, along with that beautiful blush he usually sported around Doyoung, only now he stopped averting his gaze, no more shying away from eye contact.

The question was silly, he knew Johnny would never put him at risk nor do anything to harm him; that knowledge filling his insides with warmth, he was cherished, cared for, perhaps loved even.

But his question was still valid; he needed to gather all relevant information, especially since he was planning to have sex with Johnny on a regular basis, for the foreseeable future. The sex had been amazing, he’d come three times in the span of two hours, the first time, embarrassingly before they even took off their pants, the second and third _relatively_ slower. Johnny was attentive and gentle and extremely careful with his strength, holding onto the sheets instead of Doyoung every time he’d got overwhelmed.

It had been some of the best sex he’d had in his life and they hadn’t even gone that far. The rush of getting Johnny under him in bed and the _power_ rush of having Superman under him combined had been exhilarating. 

“Well, I’m asking now.” Doyoung said, sliding his hand up to pinch Johnny’s ear and then letting it rest there.

“No, it’s not.”

“So if I suck your dick I wouldn’t get powers?”

Johnny’s chest shook with laughter under Doyoung, moving his hands to cover his face in embarrassment. _He was so cute_. “Sorry, no.” He breathed out once his laughter died down to a light chuckle.

“How do you know that?” Doyoung asked, putting on his best skeptical reporter voice.

“I slept with people before. Also Ten ran all sorts of tests.”

“Ah, I see.” Doyoung hummed, settling back against Johnny’s chest. Having a billionaire bff meant one got access to all sorts of tech.

Doyoung was about to close his eyes to try and go to sleep when he had a realization, “Wait, so you know Batman?”

Fuck sleep, he felt a new wave of adrenaline wash over him.

“Oh my god.” Johnny’s responding groan was not going to deter Doyoung from getting the scoop of the century.

“You know who Batman is!” Doyoung exclaimed, digging his chin in Johnny’s chest and squishing his cheeks to get his attention.

“I’m not gonna answer that.” Johnny said, closing his eyes shut and ignoring Doyoung’s ministrations.

“Oh my God, Johnny, you can ask him to let me interview him!” Doyoung pressed, patting Johnny on the cheek, letting out a squeak when his boyfriend wrapped his arms around him and rolled them around so he was squished against the bed.

“I’m going to sleep, I’m sleeping, I’m asleep!” Johnny said, swinging a leg over Doyoung’s and pressing his face to Doyoung’s neck, successfully half trapping him under his body.

“But Johnny, Batman!!” 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ten is Batman. That's why the conversation abt ten and batman was so funny to johnny.
> 
> Johnny still doesn’t know abt kryptonite because in this universe he still hasn’t come into contact with it, there is no fortress of solitude or kryptonian space ship, all the data is in the shuttle he was sent on earth to. There is still so much he doesn’t know about his own powers and origins, so he’s like a baby superman. 
> 
> About doyoung, like i said he's not lois, he doesn’t have a Pulitzer (lois got hers on breaking the superman story) and he wasn’t the one to name superman super. 
> 
> Yes, I named a villain William White. 
> 
> This story might come off really fragmented and like, disconnected cz it was really just completely self indulgent and i needed to finish it cz i have academic obligations biting me in the ass so here it isss.


End file.
